Drivers detected on drugs near South Australian schools
SEVEN motorists have tested positive to drugs while picking children up or driving near school zones.
SEVEN motorists have tested positive to drugs while picking children up or driving near school zones.
A Yorketown man, 35, was on the way to collect a child after school near Yorketown Primary School on Monday when he tested positive to cannabis.
There were no children in the car at the time.
Six others were detected drug driving when passing through school zones around the state at peak before-and-after school activity times as part of a police blitz.
A Woodville Gardens man, 40, was found driving disqualified and tested positive to methamphetamine when passing through a Woodville Gardens school zone on Monday morning.
A Paralowie woman, 27, and a Salisbury North man, 40, were detected with methamphetamine when driving through Burton and Salisbury North school zones respectively on Monday morning.
A Port Pirie man, 55, and a Port Lincoln man, 45, tested positive to cannabis when driving near school zones on Monday afternoon.
A Whyalla man, 58, drove past a primary school at peak after-school hours when he was detected with methamphetamine.
Superintendent Anthony Fioravanti, officer in charge of Traffic Support Branch, said no one was found drink driving out of 1261 tests conducted.
“It seems that the message not to drink drive, especially near schools, is getting through – we now also want to see drug drivers take notice,” he said.
“It is alarming that some drivers consider taking illicit drugs before driving in areas near so many vulnerable children is at all acceptable.”
He said driving while on drugs will distort the speed and distance perception of the driver, confuse decision making and inhibit quick reactions to sudden changes on the road.
“The majority of the detections were not related to parents or caregivers attending schools, but the fact we have these drivers in the general area of schoolchildren at peak times is concerning,” he said.